Alrighty.....
Four-count Crayola Box Set, and a short-bus with 2/3rd seating......

Can someone please define "Meaningful Widebody Flying".....Got the International part.

Vspeed,

You're churning a little too much this morning. Slow down and take a deep breath and call pierce on the phone or anything you want. But you need to start venting.

Meaningful = pays more. (CAL's widebodies paid more)

International routes = outside USA. (CAL had more international flights).

;)

It appears that the LUAL argument leans heavily on "status and category" emphasizing how they're one of the top three global airlines and how big their planes are, and "longevity" especially that their FOs, including furloughs, are generally older and have more time on property than LCAL FOs.

It appears the LCAL argument leans quite heavily on the "career expectations" part of ALPA merger policy showing that no matter how big and important you are, if there's no growth or recalls, what difference does it make.

-- "Arbitration precedent mandates that this Board should construct a merged seniority list that preserves the career expectations of both pilot groups as grounded in these facts as to profitability and fleet plans."

-- "Continental earned more than $1.0 billion in operating income from January 2000 through September 2010, while United lost $7.8 billion."

-- "Continental flew a greater percentage of its block hours internationally at the time of the merger than United or any other U.S. airline. These facts illustrate the reality that the Continental pilots had better career expectations than their United counterparts in 2010"

-- "Unlike the United pilots, the Continental pilots flew for a financially stable airline."

-- "United's fleet was in a tailspin over the last decade, while Continental was holding a steady course throughout this troubled period. Continental maintained the youngest fleet in the industry, comprised of new-technology, fuel-efficient aircraft, with concrete plans to add more aircraft in the future, thus confirming the Continental pilots' superior promotional opportunities."

-- "United MEC Chairman Steve Wallach complained: United should take a page from Continental, and turn its attention inward. United is the only carrier in the industry with no aircraft on order or optioned. That is not a long-term plan for survival."

-- "Capt. Wallach charged that United CEO Glenn Tilton was responsible for the company's decline 6 “to a shell of its former self,” and that Mr. Tilton had “run it into the ground.” "

-- "as Capt. Wendy Morse took over as MEC Chairman, and she leveled similar criticisms: “It is also unacceptable for United Airlines to continue downsizing . . . United's current tactic of shrinking to profitability has repeatedly proven to be disastrous.” "

-- "airline analyst Bob Reed of Bloomberg BusinessWeek wrote that Mr. Tilton was “squeezing every possible dime out of existing operations by postponing orders for new aircraft or refusing labor an extra nickel. There's no need to invest for the future, he seems to be thinking, if you're going to be gone anyway.” "

-- "Josh Kosman of the New York Post reported: “The airline, reeling from a decline in customers and running short on cash, is paying a steep 17 percent interest on $175 million in debt it issued, leading analysts to bet the company is just a few steps from the grave.”

-- "John Tague, United's Chief Operating Officer, confessed that cutting 100 aircraft from the fleet was necessary “to assure United's long-term viability.”

-- "In addition to the aircraft on hand, Continental had 75 aircraft on firm order (and had options for another 98 aircraft), many of which represented growth aircraft . . . in early 2010 United ordered 25 B787s and 25 A350s—initially scheduled to be delivered between 2016 and 2019—its fleet was destined to remain static, at best, because the orders were “part of the Company's international fleet replacement program which provides for retirement of its international Boeing 747s and 767s between 2016 and 2019.” United Air Lines, Inc., SEC Form 8-K"

Nope, just enjoying the different viewpoints and comparing the dis-similarities. Nice try though! Thank you for playing

Agreed! They are both interesting reads

I was beginning to sweat.....I lost one of my 4 Crayola's, but was still able to figure out the "Int'l Flying" portion.

The "Meaningful" part......Now that may require the services of Crayola 64 Pack (complete with built in sharpener) to decipher that crazy talk.

Borrow your's Otto???

LCAL leaning so heavily on just one of three merger guidelines is risky I think, but it seems they're saying if the company is anemic and static with less career expectations then it negatively affects the other two, longevity and status/category. If the arbitrators significantly compartmentalize the three then LCAL will have only made their point in one area. LUAL's argument seems to cover all three more equally, but as such the strength of argument in each seems more diluted.

Jump ball?

All I can say is WoW !!
I am going to sit back and keep my opinions to myself since it won't matter one way or the other.
I am UAL ( one that doesn't wear an ex-con bracelet ) and I will sleep sound tonight.

Sage advice for us all, Shrek.